William p



Dec. 25, 1923. 1,478,508

w. P. DAY

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR RECONSTRUCTIN@ TRACK Filed July 30 1923 Patented Dec. 25, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAIVI P. DAY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE INTERNATIONAL STEEL TIE COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

METHOD OILAND MEANS FOR RECONSTRUGTING TRACK.

Application filed July 30, 1923.

To all whom t mary concern:

Be it known that l, WILLIAM l). DAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and A2 State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Means for Reconstructing Track, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to railway track, and particularly to tie so designed that it may be laid down on an old foundation without removing the old foundation, and to a method whereby track may be reconstructed in paved streets without the necessity of halting traffic or closing off the track to trame during the installation.

It has been the practice in the reconstruction of tracks in paved streets, that when old rails were to be removed and new rails put in place the old concrete and steel ties wood ties were removed from the street. ln other words, the first and original foundation for the rails has usually heretofore been removed.

It is, therefore, one of the objects of the present invention to provide a tie which is adapted to permit a method of reconstruction to be carried out, which in turn will permit the original foundation to be left in place, thus saving about $25,000 per mile and which enables the railroads to carry their original track in a capital account as asset for, when the rails are worn out, instead of the track becoming a liability of from $1 to $3 a foot, which would be the cost of removing it, it has a capital value of from $5 to 956 a foot.

A further object is to provide a tie and a method of reconstruction which will require merely the removal of the old paving stones or the old concrete surface and permit the lifting off of the old rails and replacement by new rails and the casting of new concrete on top of the old concrete, or the placing of new paving blocks in place of the old paving blocks.

A still further object is to provide a tie of this character comprising two parallel connected plates of relatively large area upon which tie rails are designed to rest, these plates being connected to each other by i'iat bars, the plates being upwardly turned at their side edges so as to protect the paving stone which may be used on each side Serial No. 654,616.

of the rail and between the rails or to rein* force the concrete surface of the roadway, these upturned edges preventing the wheels from shoving the paving blocks out of position.

Anotherl object is to so form this plate that a dry mix of sand, gravel or slag mixed dry with cement and tamped under the plate may be wetted s0 as to form concrete.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a fragmentarycross sectional view through a certain form of roadway showing my method of repairing and replacing tracks thereon;

Figure 2 is a like view to Figure 1, but

.showing a different form of original roadway or roadbed construction;

Figure 3 is a like view to Figures 1 and 2, but showing still another form of road- Way or roadbed construction;

Figure l is a top plan view of my im proved rail supporting structure for repairing roadways;

In Figure 1, I have illustrated a case in which wood ties were originally used upon which the rails of the track rested, these wood ties being embedded in a concrete foundation. The wood ties are designated 10 and the concrete foundation which is around said ties and extends beyond the ties and between the ties is designated 11. Normally the rails of the track are held to these wood ties either by screw or driven spikes and the concrete is cast over the top of the wood ties to the surface of the roadway.

If it be desired to replace these rails, then according to my method the surface concrete is removed down to the level of the old wood ties 10 and the original rails are removed and there is placed upon the old wood ties 10 a tie such as shown in Figure 4 consisting of the two plates 12 which are preferably formed with 'perforations 13, these plates having a width greater than the width of the base of the rail to be disposed thereon and being preferably somewhat oblong in shape and extending longitudinally beneath the rail. This pair of plates 12 is connected by cross bars 14 of flat and relatively thin metal. These cross bars are riveted both to the under faces of the plates of the old wood ties 10. After the cross bars 1li have been spiked to the wood ties 10, a mixture of sand, gravel or slag mixed dry with cement is tamped under the flat plates and beneath the rails. ylhe perforations 13 in the plates permit water to seep in through the plates onto the sub-base as it is tamped so that it will set and become concrete. At ter this has been done, the concrete 19 or `paving stones (as illustrated in Figure 3) are disposed upon the upper sur-tace ot the foundation, extending over the plates 12 and over the bases ot the rails, as illustrated most clearly in Figure 1. Preferably the side edges of the plates 12 are turned upward7 as at 20, so that the plates are interlocked with the concrete, and this upwardly turned flange 2O forms a reinforce for the concrete.

While l have heretofore referred to the plates 12 as being supported upon the ties 10 by the heads ot the rivets, it is to be understood that a greater distance may be lett between these plates 12 and the upper faces of the ties if desired before tamping the dry min in beneath the plates to any desired eX- tent. The upwardly rounded flange 20 permits the readier tamping oit this dry mix into place beneath the plates.

ln Figure 2, l illustrate a construction wherein the original 'foundation for the track consisted of transversely extending steel. ties 21 embedded in the concrete toundation 22. W here this is the old construction for the track Jfoundation, the original racks are removed, the concrete or paving stone above the foundation 22 and the ties 21 is removed, and then the'ties illustrated in Figure 4t and heretofore described are disposed in place upon thel steel ties 2l and the cross bars llirare held to the steel ties by welding the cross bar at one or more points, as at 23,`to a piece ot metal 23a disposed between the cross bar and the tie, this piece of metal being welded to the tie, this weldtaking the place of the Ascrew spike 18 which is used where the 'foundation consists orn wood ties and acts to keep the track anchored in its position. @therwise than this, the construction illustrated in Figure 2 is precisely the saine as that in Figure 1.

ln Figure 3, l show how the tie which l have illustrated in Figure l andrmethod heretofore described may be used where paving stones constitute the surface of the concrete or any other suitable material. Un-

der these circumstances the upwardly turned edge 20 of each plate 12 protects the paving stones so that when the wheel traffic rolls against the wall of recess 28 and the inner paving block, it cannot shove the block out oit position, that is to say, the bent-up edge orl theV plate acts to support and maintain the paving edge and separates it from the paving base formed of the blocks 27 so that when any repairs are necessary the bricks or concrete can be readily removed without disturbing the balance ot the paving. It is common to see along railroad track here and there a paving stone turned out of position, due to the action ot the car wheels. This upwardly turned edge prohibits this, especially .in T-rail construction.

rllhe dry mix which is used to tamp up the ties on the old base is readily removable and thus another installation can be made on the same old base at any time. Where steel ties are used these old steel ties that are left in the old concrete base reinforce the old slabs.

Attention is particularly called to the fact that the rail supporting structure or tie structure composed of the plates 12 with the cross bars 14 is very fiat, that the plates are relativelyT thin, that the upturned flanges 20 on the plates are relatively shallow, and that the cross bars 14 are relatively thin, i'lat bars. It is the latness ot these plates 12 and the bars 14 which permits this rail engaging and supporting frame to be dis-V posed upon the wood ties or upon steel ties orupon the old concrete base 24C illustratedV in Figure 3, and it is the use ot this relatively thin rail supporting structure or trame which is attached to the original rail supporting structure that permits the original supporting structure to become an asset instead of a liability. Furthermore, this construction and this method of repairing or reconstructing tracks permits the traliio to be maintained during the installation so that instead oi having totear up the old substructure thissubstructure'is left down and the new rail supporting structure or trame with the rails is simply placed upon this old substructure and engaged therewith; This can be done very expeditiously at a relatively slight cost and at the same time gives a perfectly iirm and solid roadbed. It

- will be seen that the small amount of space occupied by the new rail supporting frame is a very essential feature in the carrying out of this methodof reconstruction.

While I have illustrated a certain particular form of rail supporting frame consisting of the plates l2 and the cross pieces 14, it will be obvious that these cross pieces and the plates might be modified to some extent from those shown in the drawings without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

l. A method of repairing street railways consisting in removing the surface material to a depth suflicient to uncover the upper surface of the original rail supporting structure, placing a relatively flat rail supporting frame over the original rail supporting structure, connecting the rail supporting frame to the original rail supporting structure, placing rails upon the frame and engaging them therewith, and filling the space between and on each side of the rails with a surface material.

2. A method of repairing street railways consisting in removing the surface material to a depth sufiicient to uncover the upper surface of the original rail supporting structure, placing over the original rail supporting structure relatively flat rail supporting frames, the space between each rail supporting frame and the original rail supporting structure being filled in with a relatively thin layer of cementitious material connecting the rail supporting frames to the original rail supporting structure, placing rails upon said frames and engaging them therewith, and filling the space between and on each side of the rails with surface material.

3. A method of repairing street railways consisting in removing the surface material to a depth sufiicient to uncover the upper surface ofthe original rail supporting structure, placing relatively fiat plates connecting by relatively fiat cross bars above the original rail supporting structure, filling the spaces between Said plates and the cross bars and the original rail supporting structure with cementitious material, connecting the cross bars to the original rail supporting Sturcture, placing rails upon said plates and engaging them therewith, and filling the space between and on each side of the rails with surface material.

4. A method of repairing street railways consisting in removing the surface material to a depth sufficient to uncover the upper surface of the original rail supporting structure, placing relatively flat rail supporting plates connected by relatively fiat cross bars upon the original structure and attaching the cross bars to the original rail supporting structure, filling the space between the plates and the rail supporting structure and between the cross bars of the rail supporting structure with a dry mix consisting of comminuted material and cement, attaching rails to the plates, and filling the space between and on each side of the rails with a surfacing material.

5. A rail supporting structurefor use in repairing railway tracks comprising parallel, relatively flat, plates, the plates being perforated for the passage of water and for rail fastening devices and relatively fiat, transversely extending cross bars attached to said plates at the ends thereof and to the under faces of the plates, said plates having upwardly projecting, longitudinally extending flanges on their lateral edges.

6. A method of repairing street railways consisting in removing the surface material to a 'depth sufficient to uncover the upper surface of the original rail supporting structure, placing relatively fiat, perforated rail supporting plates connected by relatively flat cross bars upon the original cross bars and attaching the cross bars to the original rail supporting structure, filling the space between the plates and the rail supporting structure with a dry mix consisting of comminuted material and cement, permitting water to pass through the perforations of the plates t0 thereby wet the dry mix, attaching rails to the plates, and illing the space between and on each side of the rails, after the dry mix has set, with a surfacing material.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

WILLIAM P. DAY. 

